I've started a couple of threads on this subject myself. I brought it up once in therapy.

I don't have much problem greeting my T or saying good bye with eye contact but when I'm talking about stuff, or upset, I just stare off to the right, at my hands, at the floor, anywhere but at my T.

I want to feel like I can look straight at her when I talk about difficult stuff.

I had a particularly self-loathing rant one session a while back and I practically memorized the look of the couch, the floor, my own hands and I desperately needed to connect but couldn't look at T.

So I finally did this after not looking at her a hole session: it was a spur of the moment kind of thing. I paused on the way out and looked at her and said, with a kinda joking tone, "I'm gonna look at you for a second, I feel like, I need to practice eye contact." I stopped, kinda bent down (she was sitting) and looked her right in the eye and smiled and said very mindfully, "Hi".

It was awkard movement on my part, but she simply smiled back and said, "Hi" It was quite simple and brief but it was a very nice moment. Like a hug but visual.

I thanked her and we both kinda laughed (whatever that soft giggle/laugh kind a thing is called.)

The very next session she made a point to have me pull my hands away from my face and look at her. She said it wasn't related to my request but she hasn't done that since.

I'm not so self-conscious about the eye contact thing anymore even though I do still stare everywhere else. It's just how it is. My T said she gets it, because it's just being vulnerable. The therapy space is not the same as normal social settings.